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It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a PublicAccess UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldestand largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet."Link to Original Source

Eileen (798477) writes "Remember those days when you could get a free Unix shell account and learn all about the command line? You still can at the Super Dimension Fortress (SDF). SDF is celebrating its 20th birthday on June 16.

It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at
300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public
Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the
"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest
and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all over
the world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFers
pride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of
"the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism and
advertising of the DOT COM entities. It is a proponent of SMTP greylisting
as opposed to content filtering and offers that as an option to its members.

While access to basic services are free to everyone, lifetime membership
can be obtained for a mere onetime donation of $36. And it is the members
who decide which programs and features are available. The members
communicate via a web free, google inaccessible, text bulletin board
('bboard') as well as an interactive chat ('com') where users battle each
other in the integrated netris matches. The interface of these programs
harks back to the days when TOPS-20 CMD J-SYS ruled the ARPANET.

SDF has also become home to well known hackers such as Bill Gosper,
Tom Ellard (Severed Heads), Geoff Goodfellow, Carolyn Meinel and Ezra
Buchla, son of the father of the Synthesizer. From this pool of talent
you might expect more than just computing, and you'd be correct. An
annual music compilation is published featuring original music ranging
from electronic noise to improvised piano sonatinas. Gosper's puzzles
which he has cut at his favorite laser shop are frequently given away as
membership perks or through fundraising raffles.

There are always classes being taught on SDF as well, where instructors
and students enjoy free access to the latest teaching and programming
tools. Instructors manage their own classes in such a way as not
to be encumbered by their own school's outdated utilities or computer
security restrictions, which can hamper the learning process.

And where else would you expect to be able to locally dialup at 1200bps
from just about anywhere in the USA and Canada with a Commodore 64 and
get a login prompt? SDF! As well as direct login, SDF offers PPP and
PPPoE via analogue dialup (1200bps — 56kbps), ISDN and DSL. Members also
have access to the SDF VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Dynamic Domain
Name Service.

One of the many interesting and esoteric aspects of life on the SDF-1
is GOPHER. All users have access to their own GOPHER space and a
number of them continue to find it a useful way to share text and data.
And if you don't want to relive that past, SDF's 'motd.org' project
offers a collaboration amongst members to share source and security tweaks
for the latest wikis, web forums, photo galleries and blogs.

SDF runs NetBSD on a cluster of 12 DEC alphas with 3 BGP'ed T1s linking
it to the INTERNET. It is an annual supporter of the NetBSD foundation
and the Computer History Museum (CA). One of its original incarnations,
an AT&T 3B2/500, is displayed annually at the Vintage Computer Festival."Link to Original Source

An anonymous reader writes "It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all over the world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFers pride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of "the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism and advertising of the DOT COM entities.

m0smithslash writes "Where were you in 1987? 1987 was the year that Oscar Arias Sanchez won the Nobel peace prize, Supernova 1987A is observed (the first "naked-eye" supernova since 1604), the Unabomber, N.Y. Giants defeat the Denver Broncos, 39- 20, in Super Bowl XXI, and the The Legend of Zelda released for the NES in North America. June 16th, 1987 marked the day that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. From the press release:

This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

For crying out loud, all users have access to their own GOPHER space as well as more modern technologies like blogs, wikis and so forth. What more could you want?"Link to Original Source

edrdo writes "SDF (aka Super Dimensional Fortress), the largest and oldest public access UNIX system (also a non-profit organization) has just turned 20. See the press release to get an idea of how rich the SDF story is and how hard these pioneering guys have stuck to their ideals and payed a great service to the Internet.

The SDF Public Access UNIX System Celebrates 20 Years! http://sdf.lonestar.org/
It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at 300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a Public Access UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the "Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldest and largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet...

It was on June 16th, 1987 that the SDF-1 received its first caller at300bps. This little Apple ][e BBS of the late 80s turned into a PublicAccess UNIX System with the demise of "killer.dallas.tx.us" during the"Operation Sundevil" raids. Since then it has grown to become the oldestand largest continually operating PUBNIX on the planet.

Over the years SDF has been a home to 2+ million people from all overthe world and has been supported by donations and membership dues. SDFerspride themselves on the fact that theirs is one of the last bastions of"the real INTERNET", out of the reach and scope of the commercialism andadvertising of the DOT COM entities. It is a proponent of SMTP greylistingas opposed to content filtering and offers that as an option to its members.

While access to basic services are free to everyone, lifetime membershipcan be obtained for a mere onetime donation of $36. And it is the memberswho decide which programs and features are available. The memberscommunicate via a web free, google inaccessible, text bulletin board('bboard') as well as an interactive chat ('com') where users battle eachother in the integrated netris matches. The interface of these programsharks back to the days when TOPS-20 CMD J-SYS ruled the ARPANET.

SDF has also become home to well known hackers such as Bill Gosper,Tom Ellard (Severed Heads), Geoff Goodfellow, Carolyn Meinel and EzraBuchla, son of the father of the Synthesizer. From this pool of talentyou might expect more than just computing, and you'd be correct. Anannual music compilation is published featuring original music rangingfrom electronic noise to improvised piano sonatinas. Gosper's puzzleswhich he has cut at his favorite laser shop are frequently given away asmembership perks or through fundraising raffles.

There are always classes being taught on SDF as well, where instructorsand students enjoy free access to the latest teaching and programmingtools. Instructors manage their own classes in such a way as notto be encumbered by their own school's outdated utilities or computersecurity restrictions, which can hamper the learning process.

And where else would you expect to be able to locally dialup at 1200bpsfrom just about anywhere in the USA and Canada with a Commodore 64 andget a login prompt? SDF! As well as direct login, SDF offers PPP andPPPoE via analogue dialup (1200bps — 56kbps), ISDN and DSL. Members alsohave access to the SDF VPN (Virtual Private Network) and Dynamic DomainName Service.

One of the many interesting and esoteric aspects of life on the SDF-1is GOPHER. All users have access to their own GOPHER space and anumber of them continue to find it a useful way to share text and data.And if you don't want to relive that past, SDF's 'motd.org' projectoffers a collaboration amongst members to share source and security tweaksfor the latest wikis, web forums, photo galleries and blogs.

SDF runs NetBSD on a cluster of 12 DEC alphas with 3 BGP'ed T1s linkingit to the INTERNET. It is an annual supporter of the NetBSD foundationand the Computer History Museum (CA). One of its original incarnations,an AT&T 3B2/500, is displayed annually at the Vintage Computer Festival."

fistfullast33l writes "A fight is brewing in Kearny, New Jersey a 16 year old student and his school district over the teachings of the student's history teacher. According to the NY Times, the student did not think the teacher's lectures in class were relevant to the subject matter, so he started recording the teacher in class. On the tapes, "Mr. Paszkiewicz is heard telling the class that there were dinosaurs aboard Noah's ark and that there is no scientific basis for evolution or the Big Bang theory of the origin of the universe." Matthew LaClair, the student, was reprimanded by the school for turning the tapes in (apparently students aren't allowed to secretly record lectures) and has been harassed by students. He has threatened to sue the school district. According to WNBC in NY, the teacher claims "he was merely answering a question posed to him in a question-and-answer session, according to Demetrios Stratis, a Fair Lawn lawyer who said he represented the teacher.""